RANGELY I Rangely opened up its cross country season by traveling to Colorado Springs last Friday to participate in the Cheyenne Mountain Stampede, a highly competitive meet held at the Norris Penrose Event Center. Raced at the site of the state meet in October, this meet was well attended with the Panthers competing in the 2A/3A division against 34 teams and 182 runners.
William Scoggins, competing in his senior year, led the Panthers in their season opener. Running a time of 18:08, Scoggins finished in fourth place after leading much of the way on the challenging hilly course that included two water crossings. Chris Hogan tackled his first cross country race in his freshman year in a time of 21:43, continuing the strong Hogan running legacy. Not far behind him, sophomore Mitchell Webber crossed the finish line in a time of 23:08 with a strong finish on the grueling course. Freshman Daniel Connor found his stride during his first 5K cross country race finishing in a time of 28:00. No girls ran this weekend.
“This was a long way to go for our first race, but the experience gained by our runners competing on this course will go a long way come Oct. 27, when we step on the line for the state championships,” said coach Beth Scoggins.
The team will compete at the Basalt Longhorn Cross Country Invitational on Sept. 8.